Protesters' camp hits revenue at St Paul's with visitors down by half

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The anti-capitalist protesters camped outside St Paul's Cathedral have created an "untenable" situation at the historic landmark, it was claimed today.

A source at the cathedral said the situation was "killing us", as takings from visitors paying to get in had halved since the protest began on Saturday. The rows of tents also threaten plans for a fairground outside the cathedral during the Lord Mayor's Show on November 12, the source said.

One couple planning to get married there on Saturday have been told they must use a different entrance when they arrive by horse and carriage.

Demonstrators have been camping peacefully outside the cathedral since being stopped from entering the London Stock Exchange nearby.

Since then the entrance to the cathedral café and restaurant have been blocked off and several access points cannot be reached because of the expanding "tent city".

A cathedral source said: "It is getting to the point where it is becoming untenable. It is killing us. We need these people to think of us now."

Since Monday the number of tents has grown from 120 to 180, with protesters considering plans to set up another site if they run out of space.

A cathedral spokeswoman said no decision had been made about the fairground yet, and that the south entrance of the building was being used for events this weekend. A spokesman for the City of London Corporation said there were no immediate plans to try to move the protesters.

He added: "We review all these matters regularly and at the moment nothing has changed."

At the camp today, a representative of the demonstrators said the tents that have been blocking the restaurant door and the access points were being moved. "We have been actively attempting to negotiate with the church and we are optimistic about managing to get a resolution with them," he said.

"Someone had raised the fact that the church makes its money by donations. We did it because it is what the church wants and it the right thing to do."